Positioning of lasts



Um. 3, 1935., A, F, PYM

POSITIONING 0F LAsTs Filed Aug. 19, 1931 www Patented Dec. 3, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POSITIONING OF LASTS Application August 19, 1 931, Serial No. 558,040

8 Claims.

This invention relates to the positioning of lasts and the shoe parts thereon relatively to means in shoemaking machinery for operating on the materials.

In many machine shoemaking operations it is necessary that the shoe and the instrumentalities that act upon it be relatively'positioned with a considerable degree of accuracy. To this end, shoemaking machines are provided with adjusting means of various types for properly establishing the relative positions of their operating instrumentalities and the lasts carrying the shoes on which the machines are to operate. The manipulation of these adjusting means takes much of the operators time, and their successful use depends largely upon the operators skill.

An object of the present invention is to provide for the positioning of lasts in shoemaking machines with positiveness and de'niteness by supporting the last through the ankle opening of the shoe, at the cone of the last, thus avoiding the necessity ofra supporting toe pad, which, under some conditions, might mar the shoe.

To this end I provide the last with a strong metallic member, accessible for supporting and locating purposes from the upper part or cone of the last, and extending down into the toe of the forepart sufciently to support the stresses to which that part of the last will be subjected in shoemaking. Advantageously, in case the last is a hinge last, this member will be utilized also as a hinge member. That portion of this member which is accessible from the top of the last will be utilized to support and position the last in the shoe-making machine, and will, in all lasts of the same size and style, be located in an invariable relation to the contour of some portion of the last.

The invention contemplates also an adapter or member engaging the engageable member in the last, above discussed, and connecting it to a means mounted on the shoemaking machine in fixed relation to its operating instrumentalities.

, The construction of this adapter will be contrived in various ways, depending upon the nature of the particular shoemaking operation and the construction of the particular shoemaking machine involved. The construction of the adapter will be such as to locate the last in the desired position relatively to the operating instrumentalities of the machine.

In the herein illustrated embodiments of the invention the supporting and positioning memi ber mounted in the last is formed as a cylindrical member, and additional locating means is provided to insure against possible rotation about the axis of this rod. I have shown two devices for this purpose. In one of them the adapter engages also the jack pin hole in the heel part. 5 This hole will therefore, in accordance with the invention, be located in a xed relationship, in all lasts of the same size and style, at least, to the contour of the last. For reasons which will be discussed below, I prefer to place this hole 10 the same invariable distance forward of the rear end of the last heel bottom in all lasts, regardless of size or style.

The other illustrated embodiment of the invention relates especially to a last having a V-cut, 15 and the adapter is arranged to engage in the V-cut in such manner as to prevent movement of the last when properly seated on the adapter.

In both cases above discussed, the adapter being properly constructed to effect the desired 20 positional relation between the last and the machine, the last will be denitely located therein without any special effort or skill on the part ofI the operator.

In some operations upon the rear portion of 25 the shoe accurate location of the forepart of the last is of small consequence, and support and location of the last by reason of the jack pin hole is adequate. Some such operations are advantageously gaged from the rear end of the 30 heel bottom, and accordingly the present invention provides for the location of the jack pin hole at a uniform distance-from this point to facilitate such operations.

In another aspect the present invention also 35 contemplates broadly the provision of a gaging surface accessible from the upper side of a last, or through the ankle opening of a shoe on the last, and ofV means for engaging the last upon this surface to position it relatively to instrumentalities for operating on a shoe carried by the last. The invention contemplates the provision and use of one or more such surfaces. In one aspect of the matter, such a surface will be provided on the forepart of the last in a denite relation to a forepart contour of the last; in

another aspect, as above stated, a jack pin hole located in the heel part of the last at a xed distance from the lower rear heel corner, irrespective of the size or style of the last, will be provided and utilized.

These and other features of the invention comprising certain combinations and arrangements of parts will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing, in which Fig. l is a side elevation of one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar View of another embodiment; and

Fig. 3 is a detail cross-section on the line III-III of Fig. 2.

In the last shown in Fig. l, the V-cut I0, knuckle l2, forepart I4 and heel part I6 are of the ordinary type. The forepart and heel part are connected by a hinge member I8 anchored in the forepart by a rivet 22 and hinged to the heel part at the center of the knuckle I2 by a hinge pin 24. The last as so far described is of ordinary construction.

The last p-ositioning and supporting member 20, as stated above, has a definite relation tothe contour of a part of the last, as for example a triangular surface at the front end of the toe bottom, in case a problem of toe lasting is particularly in mind. This member is firmly fastened in the last, and is preferably seated in a semi-cylindrical notch in the rear forepart face. It is advantageously formed as an integral arm on the hinge member f8, which is preferably of about twice its normal length in order that it may reinforce the toe of the last when supported by the member 20, and thus enable a supporting toe I pad to be dispensed with.

In the' last shown in Fig. 1 the member 20 is drilled to receive a rod 26 mounted integrally upon an adapter 28. The rod 35, similarly mounted upon the adapter, engages the jack pin hole 38 in the heel part I6. This hole is likewise in a standard location in the heel part, preferably, as stated at a uniform distance 60 from the lower rear heel corner.

The relations of the member 20 and the hole 38 to each other and to the last contour are thus preferably uniform in all lasts of the same size and style, at least; but in any event, the adapter 28 Will be made to fit them. Y

The adapter 28, in the form illustrated in Fig. l, is provided with two pins 3D, 32 which engage holes in the jack 34 of the shoemaking machine, as shown. These holes are located in the machine in a definite relation to its operating instr-umentalities. It is therefore clear that in mounting the last on its adapter and the adapter on the machine, the last is positively located in a definite relation to the operating instrumentalities of the machine, and that by properly shaping the adapter, that is, by properly relating the pins 26, 36 to the pins 30, 32, this relation can be made anything desired.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2, the last itself may be identical with that shown in Fig. l, and is so shown, in essentials. I-Iere the adapter 40 has a wedge-shaped arm 42 arranged to fit the V-cut l0 of the last, which has been formed in some definite relation to the exteriorv surface of the last. As shown in Fig. 3, the arm 42 is provided with a rib 44 and a channel 46 arranged to engage a corresponding channel in the heel part I6 and the positioning member 20. The fit of the arm 42 to the surfaces of the V- cut in the forepart and heel part, of which the projecting face of the member 20 and the channel at 44 may be here considered as portions, will preferably be as close as practicable. A springpressed latch 48 may be provided, engaging in a depression in the member 20, tohold the last on the member 42.

The adapter 4i] in Fig. 2 has been shown with a hole 59 .and a slot 52, engaging a pin 54 and a rib 56 on the jack 58. AS before, the adapter will be constructed with the wedge faces of the arm 42 in such a relation to the hole 50 and ber or surface (and preferably a combined positioning and supporting member) for a last, having a definite space relation to a contour of the last, and an adapter arranged to engage this member and also to engage a jacking instrumentality having, in its turn, a definite relation to the operating instrumentalities of the Shoemaking machine. The construction of the adapter thus insures a definite relation between the last contour and the operating instrumentalities.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A last having a member accessible through the ankle opening of a shoe thereon, and having a definite relation to a contour of the last, in combination with an adapter positively engaging said member, and arranged to engage rigidly a fixed jacking instrumentality of a shoemaking machine, said adapter being shaped to effect a desired positional relation between the jacking instrumentality and the last contour.

2. In combination, a jacking instrumentality having a definite relation to the operating instrumentalities of a shoeniaking machine, a last having a member accessible through-the ankle opening of a shoe thereon and having a definite relation to a contour of the last forepart, and an adapter rigidly engaging the jacking instrumentality and the member to hold them in a fixed predetermined relationship.

3. A hinge last having a, V-shaped opening in its upper portion, a surface of said V-opening being formed in a predetermined relation to a contour of the last, and a last positioning and supporting member constructed and arranged to engage a shoe making machine in a predetermined relation, said.- member engaging the said surface of the V-opening over` a substantial extent of its area, and in a definitely predetermined relation thereto.

4. A hinge last having a V-cut, the surfaces of which are definitely positionally related in a predetermined manner to a contour of the last, in combination with a wedge-shaped adapter constructed to fit the V-cut and to engage positively, and in a predetermined manner, a jacking instrumentality of a shoemaking machine.

5. A hinge last having a V-cut a front surface of which is definitely related to a forepart contour of the last, and a jack pin hole definitely positionally related to the lower rear heel corner of the last, in combination with a positioning and supporting device substantially fitting the front surface of the V-cut and the jack pin hole.

6. A wooden hinge last having a V-cut and a reinforcing member extending longitudinally throughl a substantial portion of its forepart,l the rear end of said member being accessible throughY the V-cut and being adapted to cooperate With a positioning and supporting means which projects into the V-cut.

7. A- hinge last having a hinge member 1n its forepart extending longitudinally therein 8. A hinge last having a hinge member with through a substantial portion of the forepart two angularly arranged portions, one said portion length, said hinge member having an extension, extending into the toe portion of the last and the accessible from the top of the last and arranged other said portion extending upwardly from the for cooperation With a positioning and supporting hinge pivot to engage a last-supporting means. 5 means. ARTHUR F. PYM. 

